Asus Formula Z Crosshair V: features, reviews and photos.

Not only oveklokers and game lovers want at hand to have a reliable and multifunctional motherboard for building a powerful home computer. Many ordinary users, whose leisure is inextricably linked with multimedia, or professional interest affects the work with 3D modeling, photo editing and video processing, you definitely need to have a decent motherboard that can unite many necessary computer components into a full-fledged work platform.

The focus of this article is a real monster of the computer market - the motherboard Asus Formula Z Crosshair V. Specifications, reviews and photos presented to the reader will help to find out a lot of useful and interesting information about the product.

A real Republican

Yes, not every day on the shelves can be found motherboards for the platform AM3 +, the cost of about 15-18 thousand rubles. In fact, this is the price of a budget notebook, not the base component of a computer. However, it is the Asus ROG Crosshair V Formula Z, the review of which is offered to the reader, is the most expensive device on the world market for the AM3 + socket.

The fault is not the functionality that the device is equipped with, but the build quality. After all, this motherboard belongs to the ROG series (Republic of players), and accordingly, it is made with higher requirements for computer components on the world market. In simple terms, this motherboard is a masterpiece, a standard and is able not only to work under extreme conditions, but also has high fault tolerance. Asus ROG is the guarantor!

First meeting

Many owners in their reviews often complain about the producers who pay too much attention to the beautiful packaging in which computer components are transported. However, it is the high-quality box that allows the buyer to purchase a fully working device that has not been damaged during transportation.

The motherboard Asus Crosshair V Formula Z comes in a package of very dense cardboard, which from a distance looks more like a sarcophagus. Let the box and painted in bright colors, but its panels are quite informative and allow the buyer to get acquainted with the characteristics of the device.

As for the bundle, the user does not have to worry either, the manufacturer has done everything possible to please the user. In addition to the huge instruction manual and the software CD, the owner will find in the box a lot of useful things:

• Six SATA cables (3 of them have an L-shaped connector);
• One bridge CrossFire, one bridge SLI and interface 3-Way SLI for connection of 3 video cards;
• USB-AA cable for connecting the ROG panel;
• Set of labels for cables inside the system unit;
• Branded labels with the ROG logo and the sign "Do not disturb the player".

The right approach

The appearance of the Asus Crosshair V Formula Z motherboard respects. It is immediately evident that the manufacturer has seriously approached the task. To begin with, the socket of the processor socket is reinforced with a metal plate. And the socket is clamped on both sides of the board. This mechanism is guaranteed to protect the processor socket from damage when installing a huge cooler (theoretically, the mount can withstand a load of 2 kilograms).

With regard to the placement of components on the PCB, then here again the manufacturer managed to surprise the buyer. All elements, including slots, cooling system and even capacitors, are placed comfortably and beautifully. As the users note in their reviews, very pedantic people worked on creating the motherboard, which managed to restore order and create a really convenient and elegant product.

Golf course

The Asus ROG Crosshair V Formula Z baseboard stands out among the competitors not only in appearance and functionality. Many potential buyers managed to pay attention to a large area around the processor socket, which is completely devoid of microcircuits and capacitors. Many users immediately ask the question: "This is what should be the cooling system to occupy all the free space near the processor?".

Yes, the gaming device initially assumes that the owner at his fingertips will have a powerful processor, which in addition will be overclocked. On the other hand, whatever the radiator, it simply will not transfer heat to the memory modules and capacitors of the north bridge, as is often the case with conventional boards.

There is not much memory

Four DDR3 slots located near the processor socket will certainly please the user, who plans to further improve the system's performance by increasing memory. However, there is one trouble that it is better to immediately know the potential buyer. The matter is that the Asus Crosshair V Formula Z AM3 product is based on the AMD 990FX chip, which on the hardware level has a limitation on working with RAM.

The maximum installed volume with which the motherboard can work is only 32 gigabytes. Yes, it now seems that so much RAM will not be required to the owner, but no one knows what will happen in 2 years. For example, a competitor, Intel, already began to worry about the future problem, and its expensive chips support a total capacity of up to 64 gigabytes.

Correct tension

Naturally, many potential buyers are interested in the electrical capabilities of the Asus Crosshair V Formula Z motherboard. The review of the power elements is rather difficult to find in the media, so we have to fill this gap. All products of the ROG line use the power subsystem of its own production Extreme Engine Digi + II. Its feature is that the manufacturer provides each controller with its own phase. Yes, it is expensive, but very effective.

This board uses a 10-phase circuit. The manufacturer has delivered a digital controller on the board, which is capable of controlling all phases manually. The story of high-quality chips and solid-state containers can not even begin, but it's better to go directly to the cooling system. All the batteries have their own passive radiators, which excellently divert the heat.

Expansion Slots

Four PCIex16 slots look pretty impressive on the Asus Crosshair V Formula Z motherboard. You can understand the owners' feedback regarding the maximum efficiency of the gaming platform, but the manufacturer in the advertising booklets forgot to indicate that the slots are not full. The first PCIex16 slot works at the declared speed, but the second and third separate one 16-speed line in half. On the fourth slot is better not to mention, it works in the x4 mode.

As for the placement of the slots themselves, opinions are divided here. Some users claim that the location of PCIex16 connectors is convenient and allows you to easily install at least three powerful gaming adapters that will not interfere with each other's cooling systems. But there are dissatisfied owners who consider the 4th slot superfluous, since it is blocked by the radiator of the 3rd video card.

File subsystem

Six SATA cables in the kit already hint to the future owner that he can connect up to 6 hard drives to the motherboard Asus Crosshair V Formula Z AMD 990FXSB950. In fact, the system will cope with ten hard drives. On the board itself is not 6, but 8 SATA controllers, two of which are simply executed on the basis of another chip. Also on the board there are two eSATA ports, which also can work at speeds up to 6 gigabits per second.

Do not forget about the PCIex1 interface. Recently, many fans of games have come to the fact that the weak point in the system is still the hard drive. Therefore, many buyers prefer SSD drives that work not only on the SATA interface, but also on the PCIex1 bus.

Generous manufacturer

Many users have already noticed that the AMD 990FX chipset does not support USB 3.0 controller operation. However, it's too early to be upset. The fact is that on the motherboard Asus Crosshair V Formula Z there is an additional chip ASmedia, which provides support for the claimed components.

In general, there will be no problems with connected interfaces, as the manufacturer has provided its product with everything necessary. You can find fault with only the integrated video output missing on the board. On the one hand, gaming boards are not equipped with budget components. On the other hand, no one knows how the motherboard will behave with overclocked graphics accelerators and whether it will be able to display the image on the display in case of any failure.

Flight Control Center

Yes, built-in BIOS UEFI shell from the manufacturer Asus can make an impression. Such an entertaining control panel that allows you to programmatically control the operation of the entire hardware of the computer. The owner of the motherboard Asus Formula Z Crosshair V will have to fully study the instruction manual to understand how to properly configure the game platform.

As practice shows, the user has the opportunity to put not only voltage and frequency on the system bus, but also locally change the characteristics of all the slots that are installed on the board. This solution is more convenient if you want to overclock one component, not all at once.

Naturally, in the control center there is not only monitoring of effective work, but also a "sandbox" that allows you to perform tests in real time without restarting the system and booting Windows. Perhaps, users will also like the intelligent overclocking system, which operates in automatic mode, but not all enthusiasts are pleased when the computer works for them.

Platform performance

Many potential buyers have always been interested in how the gaming boards are tested. It's not a processor and a graphics accelerator, which can demonstrate the number of frames per second in a resource-intensive game. The motherboard Asus Crosshair V Formula Z, whose characteristics can not be seen clearly, is tested for stability. After all, it is this factor that allows all components of the system to work without failures.

It is worth noting that this platform is used by many enthusiasts in measuring the performance of processors and video cards. In the testing process, no users have yet been able to burn the system with overheating, which means that the power and cooling management system cope with the task.

As for the overclocking potential, there are no restrictions. The motherboard controller does not care which adapter or processor is installed (except that the crystal multiplier can be locked at the hardware level). On the bus and on the power, everything is accelerated.

Feedback

Naturally, the proprietary panel for overclocking the motherboard Asus Formula Z Crosshair V pleased all the owners. At least, all the positive feedback from users begins with the UEFI shell and the overclocking convenience. Pleased lovers of games and equipment of the device. Oddly enough, almost all owners share in the media impressions of branded labels and a "Do Not Disturb" sign and do not mention other useful accessories in the box at all.

Stable operation of DDR3 memory at 2400 MHz did not go unnoticed by overclockers. Not every product on the market can demonstrate a similar frequency. No complaints and the heating of the entire platform. This is understandable, the 10-phase power stabilization system uniquely fulfills its functions.

Finally

After getting acquainted with the characteristics of the motherboard Asus Formula Z Crosshair V and learning that many owners are thinking about it, we can make an obvious conclusion. If there is a financial opportunity, then it is worth giving preference to this product, because in the computer market nothing more productive is simply not there. Yes, there are some flaws concerning the limitation of the amount of RAM, but this is incomparable with the potential of the gaming motherboard directly in the process of work.